Milan (Italy), layover, 14th of August, day 1

Milan, 14th of Aug 2019

I just arrived and was confused about how to find the hotel. Although it was close to the train station, somebody just helped me to find the right directions. In hindsight I should have used Here for pedestrians.

The hotel (Soperga, ranked three stars, yes I don't splurge on lodging) looked very neat and the room was larger than what we've seen previously in Italy (2017). I got out with Emma and dined to a nearby restaurant with owners from Middle East. I got a mussel soup, Dorado fried fish and salad. More than I usually eat for dinner. Emma got shrimp, langostino and fries. I even tried their house wine but the fermentation was spoiling it.

The whole experience was not bad and the prices were decent. I was surprised by the richness of the mussel soup. Emma ate at least half of the mussels from my appetizer. It was a nice restaurant with table cloth, men servers and people smiling when talking to you. Romania has a long way to go in that regard - I was there a week and in some restaurant the servers were playing the cat and mouse game with their customers. Many servers (in Romania) are just reflecting a hate for being in that job.

In Milan, as the table was on the side of the side-walk, I was also looking at the pedestrians. A group of Czech women wanted to share a pizza and the server explained there is a fee for each seat at the table (1.5 euro) which was adding to their budget.

Milan is not a cheap place to dine, and the usual fare in Italy is not tuned to everyone's palate (especially from North America). Pizza, breads, fish, seafood and skimpy salads are the norm. The veal steak is anemic and the side dishes - vegetables, potatoes, rice - don't come mixed with flavors. 
If you love breads, pizzas and pastas then Italy is fine for you.

After dinner we wandered around the train station and I shot a few pictures.

Inside train station

Outside train station

Old and new

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